PRACTICAL HINTS. 



287 



are free to obey the rider's will, and the upper part of the body re- 

 tains its balance by accommodating itself instinctively to every 

 movement. If the upper part of the body be kept rigid, its effect 

 will be to remove the hips from their place in the saddle. If, on the 

 other hand, it be flexible, it will yield and sway with every move- 

 merit, and will be left free to obey the motions' of the saddle.. 



In Tommy's act of throwing the boys, described in another 

 chapter, whenever a boy or young man would sit in the saddle 

 rigidly, with a firm grasp of the mane, no matter how strong or sup- 



Fig. 353.— Ah Insecure Position., 



pie he might be, the pony would throw him with great , ease, and 

 with the force of a bullet, from his back ;, but when a young man 

 came in who would sit and balance himself on the pony's back as if 

 with the greatest carelessness, harmonizing the motions of his body 

 freely, with those of the pony in the attempt to throw him, it Would 

 frequently require the greatest effort to dislodge the rider. 



The position assumed in the saddle should be with the weight 

 of the body supported directly/under the hips, the spine curved in- 

 ward, and the head and chest thrown backward. We give two illus- 

 trations from Ifeach, showing the insecure and the secure positions in 

 riding. The rider in the first illustration exhibits the greatest cau- 

 tion and timidity, with his body bent forward, and his whole at- 



